


A Glimpse From The Future

by imgilmoregirl



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, One Shot, The Dark Castle (Once Upon a Time)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 21:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11472018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imgilmoregirl/pseuds/imgilmoregirl
Summary: Dark Castle AU One-Shot: Adult!Gideon is alone and sad at the Dark Realm and wants to know his parents, so he visits past!Rumple and past!Belle.





	A Glimpse From The Future

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon A Time or any of the characters and storylines in the show. This is just a fanwork made for fun.
> 
> I wrote this fic for the prompt “Because time works different in the Dark Realm, adult!Gideon shows up during Rumbelle's Dark Castle days” on the rumbelleprompts tumblr. I reblogged it some days ago and it really stuck to my head, so I had to work on this. Hope you all enjoy it.

He walked carefully through the entryway. It had been easy to enter the castle, despite all the protection spells surrounding the whole place, because Gideon had been teached by someone who understood very well the breaches in magic, principally when it came about dark magic. The Black Fairy had no idea of where he was, but she had been busy those last few days, so he decided to be a little disobedient and make a short trip to there. After all, she didn’t have to know what he was doing.

She had taken a lot from him and, even though he was already a twenty-six-year-old man, he still felt as if he was a lonely child inside. It had been years since Fiona took his mother’s book from him, but he still remembered her delicate handwriting and sweet words. He knew that she never wanted to give him up, no matter what the Black Fairy said and being here, in this place was probably his only chance of seeing her and his father ever again.

Gideon stepped inside the dining hall, quietly, fearfully, afraid of being caught by the Dark One and transformed into a toad even before he could explain who he was, but the only one there was Belle. Her auburn curls were styled half-up and half-down, she wore a peasant blue dress, the blue eyes fixed in the pages of an old known book for him: Her Handsome Hero. A lump formed on his throat, some tears trying to blurry his vision, because she was beautiful and seemed to be so lovely like he always dreamed her to.

Taking another step, he stumbled in one of the chairs on the big dining table, startling the maid and causing her to jump a drop the book on the floor at the sight of him. She gasped, pressing a hand to her chest, eyes widening as grabbed the book, leaving it on the chaise she had been sat on, before she walked towards him.

“Whoa, you scared me.” Belle said. “Are you looking for Rumplestiltskin?”

“I - ” he swallowed. “Yes, but I was curious about you too.”

“About me?” A sweet smile filled her pinkish lips, and he so wished to threw himself in her arms in that moment. “Why?”

“My name is Gideon. I am your son.”

A suffocated laugh left her mouth and she chuckled for a moment before she realised that he was serious, almost expectant, with the sad brown eyes of a lost boy, staring at her. He had no words to describe how stupefied he was, because his mother looked so young, innocent and kind that it only made him hate Fiona even more. Gideon wanted to have grown knowing _this mother_ , not the abusive, creepy fairy.

“My son?” Belle repeated in shock. “I don’t have I son, I can’t have a son as old as you and - ” she mumbled in just one breath. “I’m staying here forever, I’m not supposed to meet any man, other than Rumplestiltskin.”

“He is my father and I came from the future.”

Her jaw dropped a little, but she kept looking around without understanding a thing. That was when a purple cloud of smoke appeared by her side, bringing the Dark One with it, a figure just a bit taller than her, with scaled green-gold skin and reptilian eyes.

“Who are you talking to, dearie?” Rumplestiltskin asked. “A powerful sorcerer I suppose, since he was capable of breaking into my home.”

Belle’s cheeks got a little flushed when she whispered: “He says he is our son.”

“ _Our son?_ ” The imp questioned aloud. “I only have one son and it is certainly not with you, dearie.”

“You will have, in the future.” Gideon explained. “A baby boy that will be taken from you by the Black Fairy.”

At the mention of his mother’s name, Rumplestiltskin’s eyes got wide and he took a moment to analyse Gideon carefully, circulating him and observing each one of his features, occasionally sending brief glances at Belle’s direction. She didn’t seem to believe a word he said, even though her eyes were also studying him, just like his father’s did. The imp lifted a hand and pulled a hair from Gideon’s head, then took one from his own and one from the maid, who complained a bit as he made two bottles appear and placed Gideon’s hair inside one and theirs in the other.

He swung the things a little and both showed a yellow glow, that only intensified when he touched them together. Lifting his eyes back at the boy, Rumplestiltskin set the bottles on the table and touched Belle’s arm, resigned.

“It’s true. He is our son.”

“We - ” Belle tried to say, blinking her eyes repeatedly, fighting against her tears. “We will have a baby.”

Rumplestiltskin nodded, his voice full of disbelief when he replied: “At some point, yes.”

“You gave me the name of the hero on your favourite book, mother.” Gideon said, and he couldn’t help but to sound weak and full of despair.

“Gideon.” The name left Belle’s mouth as a sob. “And wouldn’t I be able to raise you?”

“Unfortunately, not.”

She took a step in his direction, opening her arms to him and the boy bent to hug her with all the strength he had, feeling as she sobbed against his dark clothes, her petite figure passing him the safety that Fiona never did. This Belle only knew him for a few seconds and she already loved him. So, this was what having a family was like? Feeling an impossibly giant love for someone just by knowing that you shared their blood? Gideon didn’t know much about this matter, but he felt so good that he wished he could never leave.

“Come sit with me, my son.” Belle said, guiding him to the chaise where she had been reading.

The tears continued streaming down her face as they accommodated themselves in there, her thin fingers brushing his hair in wonder. Gideon could tell that she was extremely enchanted in knowing that would have son in the future, but was also very tormented and sad about the fact that they would be separated.

“How - ” Rumplestiltskin swallowed, stopping right in front of them. “How does my mother get to stole you? Wasn’t I able to protect you?”

“I don’t know exactly how, father, all I know is that she stole me right after I was born.” Gideon told them and Belle’s lips trembled. “She said, neither of you wanted me so mother sent me away and she got me, but I never believed her, because that book.” He pointed at the _Her Handsome Hero_ copy, forgotten at their side. “It was in my basket with a message from mother, that said how much she loved me.”

“It couldn’t be any different.” Belle said. “And I would never give up on you, unless something forced me to.”

Rumplestiltskin stretched his hand for Gideon and he held it, feeling the strange scales in contact with his smooth skin. “Did the Black Fairy harmed you, boy?”

His eyes closed, cruel memories of different kinds of torturous moments, in which she claimed to be toughing him, passed through his mind and he knew that he probably didn’t need to answer, because Belle was sobbing again, hiding her face on his shoulder and rubbing his back repeatedly, like she wanted a proof that was real and wasn’t going anywhere.

“Many times.” Gideon finally answered.

“I’m sorry.” The imp said, kneeling in front of him and kissing the back of his hand, both Gideon’s parents suffering with the ghost of a future they were yet to live. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, my boy. And I’m sorry Belle, you didn’t deserve this, you deserve the chance to properly be a mother.”

“Can’t we chance it?” Belle asked. “The timeline?”

“If we do so, we are taking the risk of him never being born, or other important things never happening.”

“But - ” she looked at Gideon, biting at her lip. “But we could make sure he does, we can change everything now, so our son won’t suffer. Rumplestiltskin, we can save him.”

“Mother, things are not that easy.” The boy said. “There is too much to think about.”

“Well, I don’t want to think about anything else, I just want to raise my child.”

Both Gideon and Rumpletiltskin looked at her, like Belle was totally insane, but neither of them could deny that the feeling inside them, was that they wanted the very same thing she did. What stopped Rumple, however was the fact that he still had Baelfire to consider and what stopped Gideon was the fear of changing something that could make things turn even worse. So, he remembered something Fiona had told him the many times she accused his father of being a coward.

“You can’t definitely do this. If you kiss father, his curse will break, because the two of you share True Love.”

“But if - ” Belle blinked. “If I can’t even kiss him - ” her cheeks got red and Gideon was pretty sure that his did too, because he was starting to get her point. “Then how - ”

“Did I lose my powers forever in the future?” Rumplestiltskin completed in a less awkward way.

“No. You’re still the Dark One, but you two are going to a land without magic.”

“So, in exchange for being the Dark One, I lost another child?” His jaw was tightened, and he seemed to be angry with himself. “Then I don’t want it.”

“What? But, father, you can’t change the future!”

“I do, and I will. I can find another way to get Baelfire back, if that means I won’t lose you too.”

Gideon’s eyes got wide open, because it was never his intention to lead them to change everything when he came to the Dark Castle, but now, both his parents seemed to be willing to do the same thing and he was a little afraid, as in the moment they started changing the future, he would be erased from there, and only the gods knew if he would in fact exist one day. If something went wrong it could never happen.

“What if it doesn’t work?” He asked, receiving a tight hug from Belle.

“I promise it will.” She said. “You will have a family this time.”

The Dark One took her place, when she pulled away from him, holding Gideon with a tenderness that nobody would guess that he had in him. When they parted, the boy stood from the chaise, watching as the imp slowly approached the maid, palming her cheek before leaning in and their lips touched. His skin started change and the son who had suffered all kinds of terrible things in the hands of the Black Fairy, disappeared from the dining hall, leaving them to face the choice they’ve made. Now, it was time for a new beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> My apologize if there is something wrong with my writing. English is not my first language.


End file.
